Card payment rates in France: how to compare them properly

On €100 taken in person with Tap to Pay, FiatFlex costs €2.10: €0.50 of FiatFlex commission and €1.40 + €0.20 of Stripe fees charged to the Stripe account opened in your name. On cards alone we are not the cheapest, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. What follows is our own schedule in full, and a method for setting it against any other provider's published tariff without being misled by a headline percentage.

We do not reprint other providers' rates here. Public tariffs are revised whenever their owners decide, and a rate copied into an article stops being true without warning: read each provider's own price page on the day you decide.

We are launching in France: the schedule below is for merchants in France, and Tap to Pay on iPhone is available there at launch.

Our card schedule, in full

For a consumer card issued in the European Economic Area, our commission and Stripe's fees, then the total.

Two lines, never one: 0.50% of FiatFlex commission, and the Stripe fees charged to the Stripe account opened in your name, which are 1.4% + €0.20 on Tap to Pay and 1.5% + €0.25 on a payment link. We do not merge them into a single blended percentage, because they are not billed by the same party and they do not behave the same way as the amount changes. A card issued outside the EEA, or a commercial card, is charged more by Stripe, at the rate in Stripe's published price list.

On €10, the fixed part decides, and it counts against us

An all-in rate is a pure percentage, with no fixed part. Our card schedule has one, Stripe's €0.20 on Tap to Pay and €0.25 on a link, and it does not move with the amount taken.

So €0.39 on a €10 ticket is 3.9% of that ticket, while €2.10 on a €100 ticket is 2.10%. Same schedule, same card, one line of it weighing ten times more. If your average basket is small and you mostly take cards, a provider quoting a pure percentage with no fixed part will cost you less than we do, and we would rather write that than leave it out.

How to compare, on your own figures

Three numbers are enough, and you already know them: your average basket, your monthly card volume, and the share of your takings you could receive in stablecoins.

1. Take the provider's tariff as published today: its percentage, its fixed part per transaction if it has one, and its subscription if its best rate depends on one.
2. Work out ours the same way: 0.50% of your card volume, plus Stripe's published tariff for the channel you use, 1.4% + €0.20 on Tap to Pay or 1.5% + €0.25 on a payment link for an EEA consumer card.
3. Apply both to your real average basket, then multiply by your number of transactions. Never set two percentages against each other: set two totals in euros against each other.
4. Then do the same for the share received in stablecoins: 1% of the amount converted, plus a flat bank fee of 0.30 USD per SEPA transfer, charged per transfer and not per sale, plus 0.50% of spread if you receive USDC, since EURC converts at par.

Step 3 is where most comparisons go wrong. A percentage quoted on its own is the same number for an €8 basket and an €80 one, and the cost is not.

What a headline rate does not tell you

A single percentage is easy to compare, which is also what makes it incomplete. Four lines live outside the headline rate, and they belong in your own comparison.

• Hardware. A card reader is bought or rented. Here, cards are taken on your phone: there is no terminal, so there is no hardware line.
• Subscription. A provider's best rate is sometimes conditional on a monthly or yearly subscription, which only pays for itself above a volume you should work out on your own figures. Our schedule has no subscription and no signup fee.
• Disputes. Our rule is published: €20 per card dispute received, plus €20 if you contest it, that second €20 returned to you if you win. That line rarely sits inside a headline rate, so ask for it at each provider.
• The second rail. A terminal takes cards. Our app also takes stablecoins, and that is the column a terminal comparison does not have.

We do not compare settlement times, ours or anyone else's. Our banking partner has confirmed no timing to us, so we publish none.

The other column: the stablecoin rail

Receiving USDC or EURC on Solana is free, whatever the amount. Converting into euros costs 1% of commission on the amount converted, plus a flat bank fee of 0.30 USD per SEPA transfer, plus 0.50% of spread on USDC only, since EURC converts at par.

On €100 received in EURC and converted, that comes to €1.26 in total, against €2.10 for the same €100 tapped on a card. On a €10 payment converted on its own the commission is only €0.10, but the flat bank fee lands in full, so a small ticket converted alone is no cheaper than a card.

The whole difference sits in one property: that bank fee is charged per transfer, not per sale. Ten €10 payments received in EURC and converted in a single transfer make €100 converted, so €1.26 in total with the fee charged once. The line-by-line detail is in our pricing, and how the rail works is in our stablecoin guide.

FiatFlex is not a bank, not a payment institution and not an electronic money institution. The regulated parties in the chain are Stripe for cards and Bridge for stablecoins, and the wallet we operate on your behalf is custody.

Frequently asked questions

What does FiatFlex take on €100 by card?

€2.10 with Tap to Pay: €0.50 of FiatFlex commission, and €1.40 + €0.20 of Stripe fees charged to your own Stripe account. On a payment link, €2.25.

Are you the cheapest on cards?

No. A provider quoting a pure all-in percentage with no fixed part costs less than our schedule on cards, and the gap is widest on small tickets. Where the total goes the other way is on the stablecoin rail: €1.26 on €100 received in EURC and converted, against €2.10 on a card.

Why do you not publish your competitors' rates?

Because they change whenever their owners decide, and a figure copied into an article stops being true without warning. We publish ours in full, and the method above so you can set it against any tariff you read yourself.

Why does your card rate have a fixed part?

Because Stripe's fees have one, and they are charged to your own Stripe account: 1.4% + €0.20 on Tap to Pay for an EEA consumer card. Our 0.50% commission is added on top, with no fixed part.

Where do I find your schedule?

In the pricing section and in the app. It is published and applies as it stands, with no quote to request.